Surprise! Harry Reid Refuses to Release His Tax Returns

Surprise, surprise. The man who claimed Mitt Romney hasn't paid taxes for ten years on the Senate floor because "someone" told him that was the case, is refusing to release his own tax returns. Reid, who lives in the Ritz-Carlton in Washington D.C. has gone from middle class to being worth more than $10 million during his time in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again deflected questions Monday about releasing his tax returns, even as he continued to pound the demand for Mitt Romney to make more of his own public.

Instead, Reid pointed to the financial disclosure forms he files as a member of Congress, which provide different information.

"I’m a member of Congress now, I don’t make too much money,” said Reid, whose net worth was estimated at $10 million in 2010. “But it’s all listed every year.”

Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson told POLITICO last week that the majority leader will not release his tax returns, writing: “He’s not running for president. … He has of course released more than 30 years of detailed [personal finance disclosures]. There is exponentially more information available to the public about Sen. Reid’s financial life than there is about Mitt Romney’s.”

Reid isn't the only one to play hypocrite on this issue. Nancy Pelosi, who has called for Romney to release his tax returns, also refuses to release her own.

Facing questions about why she and other top Congressional officials won’t release their tax returns, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) downplayed her previous demands for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release his, calling the issue a distraction.

As recently as Wednesday, Pelosi had strongly urged Romney to provide further disclosure of his tax returns. But today, while maintaining Romney should release more documents because of “custom” and “tradition,” Pelosi said the issue was trivial compared with economic issues.

“We spent too much time on that. We should be talking about middle-income tax cuts,” Pelosi said after answering two questions about the issue.

Pelosi, who was campaigning in Florida, said though the allegation is unproven she didn't think Reid was wrong to put it out there. Reid has said only that the tip came from a former Romney associate. He also has said he isn't sure it's true.

Reid has raised the claim in media interviews and on the Senate floor.

Pelosi said she believes Reid when he says he got the information from a credible source. She also said it's up to Romney to release more of his income tax returns to prove that Reid is wrong.

"If he has said somebody told him that, some credible source, then I believe that," the California Democrat told reporters after a campaign appearance at a retirement community.

1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.